Ethelric

Ethelric

Eathelric (or Æthelric) was Bishop of Durham from 1041 to 1056 when he resigned.

He was a monk at Peterborough Abbey before Bishop Eadmund of Durham brought him to Durham to instruct the Durham monks in monastic life. Ethelric was consecrated as bishop on 11 January 1041 at York. Ethelric may have owed his advancement to Siward, Earl of Northumbria, who later restored Ethelric to Durham after Ethelric was forced to flee during a quarrel with the Durham monks. Ethelric resigned after a scandal in which he appropriated treasure hoard that was discovered at Chester-le-Street in the process of replacing the old church with a new one. Ethelric allegedly sent the money to his former monastery of Peterborough to finance some building work there. His brother, Ethelwin, who had helped Ethelric to appropriate the treasure, succeeded Ethelric as bishop.

Ethelric retired to Peterborough, where he remained until the Norman Conquest. He died on 15 October 1072. He was arrested by the King William I of England after May 1070, and died in captivity at Westminster.